Dating coaching can be many things. This article cuts through the blur of the coaching services offered by dating coaches to give you a clear understanding of what each of the formats, what they are generally composed of and their uses.

There are literally hundreds of names and terms used, but don’t let that fool you. Dating coaching isn’t so complicated. Before we introduce you to the six ‘coaching types’ you have to choose from, there’s an important distinction to make.

Dating coaching can be many things. This article cuts through the blur of the coaching services offered by dating coaches to give you a clear understanding of what each of the formats, what they are generally composed of and their uses.

There are literally hundreds of names and terms used, but don’t let that fool you. Dating coaching isn’t so complicated. Before we introduce you to the six ‘coaching types’ you have to choose from, there’s an important distinction to make.

The difference between classic ‘classroom style’ teaching and live ‘in-field coaching’.

Teaching vs. In-Field Coaching

We all know what the classic teaching format is.

You basically listen to a dating coach explain concepts and provide you with advice on dating. This can be done in various formats, from seminars with groups of men, to talking over the phone or email with a dating coach.

The important thing to remember here is that you will learn something that you will be expected to apply yourself in your life. You are not given any support for that application, or given any feedback if you implement it wrong.

If you think about it, this is mostly what happened at school. You took a mathematics class for example, learned how to do basic mathematics, and then when you went out into the world and started to work you had to apply that skill to real problems and work. It’s possible that you applied it in the wrong way, and often we go up another learning curve as we learn to apply what we previously learned.

‘Classic Teaching’ always has its place. You very rarely find any dating coaching program which doesn’t include an element of classic teaching.

So, the decision you have when you buy dating coaching is: whether to get ‘in-field coaching’ or not. That is to say, will you get support to apply dating advice in real live dating situations. Move into practice.

In-field coaching has you placed in real dating situations and have a coach talk you through what is happening and explaining what to do next, what you have done wrong, and what is happening in general with respect to your interactions with women. This happens live, as you do it.

The benefits of getting in-field coaching can include:

• - What is happening in the dating situation (does the girl like you? Does a girl like another guy? What another guy did wrong? Why is a girl laughing? Why did she just touch you? Etc.)
• - Feedback on what you are doing right and wrong (why the girl acted negatively or positively to what you said, why you shouldn’t do what you just did again etc.)
• - Customized advice on how to improve your dating skills (advice on something important that you need to do more, or something you need to do less, tips on things that will help to improve your results etc.)

‘In-field dating coaching’ is not for the faint of heart. You are expected to do what your dating coach tells you. This can mean walking up to women and starting conversations, or executing specific tactics or personal advice that he has given you previously.

Getting the benefits of the coaching depends on your ability to do what you are told and do new things in new dating situations.

The places depend on the coaching program. It could be meeting new women in bars, coffee shops, parties and other places or even having a dating coach come to one of your own social events undercover (with you introducing him/ her as a ‘friend’).

Some men, who are shy, find this experience nerve wracking. Typically the dating coach asks you to get out of your comfort zone and do things you wouldn’t normally do. The great thing about in-field coaching though is this – it is real. There is no avoiding the learning you get from real dating situations.

The Six Types of Dating Coaching

You have a lot of options for how you use dating coaching these days. We have broken them down into six types of dating coaching to make it easy to understand. Each is made up of one or both of ‘classic teaching’ and ‘in-field’ coaching styles. These are bootcamps, seminars, 1-on-1 personal coaching, virtual coaching, specialized coaching and mentoring programs. Mentoring and specialized coaching are the least common and newest to be introduced by dating companies.

We’ll look at Mentoring Programs and Specialized Coaching separately in future articles. Today we’re giving you an introduction to the most common programs.

The Dating Bootcamp

The dating bootcamp is a package combination of ‘classic teaching’ seminar or workshop and in-field coaching for a group of students. Typically these are run over a weekend, spending half the weekend in seminar and the other half in the field with coaches.

The size of student groups doing bootcamps are  relatively small, from around 4 to 20 students.

The majority of dating bootcamps aim to give the student the basic knowledge necessary through the seminar part of the bootcamp and then lead him to apply what he has learned in the in-field coaching portion.

Most programs have the seminar portion taking place in a room in a hotel or some other location, with the in-field coaching parts most often being done in bars and clubs. This is primarily for the reason that bars and clubs are a good way to ensure there are lots of opportunities to talk with women who are out to be social.

Some bootcamps also include daytime in-field coaching portions which can take place anywhere from coffee shops, shopping malls to the street. The emphasis here is on being able to meet women anywhere during your daily life.

The Dating Seminar

Strictly a ‘classic teaching’ style course, dating seminars are set up on specific dating subjects or more general programs.

The size of the teaching class can vary considerably. You could be sitting in a room of 50 guys, or it could be just 5.

The seminars may include interactive workshop type exercises where you practice skills that you are learning. Sometimes a dating company will even bring women to the event so that the men can practice conversation, attraction and other skills with them. However, the dating seminar never includes actual ‘in-field’ situations. These are always mock-up situations.

1-on-1 Personal Dating Coaching

Both the dating bootcamp and seminar are coaching formats that are set up for groups of students. You aren’t the only one getting coached. This of course means you don’t get the full attention of the dating coach. His, or their, attention is split across the group of students.

There are options in personal dating coaching (often referred to as 1-on-1s) where you can get the full attention of the dating coach on you. This is a more intensive style of training, and may be preferable if you have very specific needs not covered in a general course or if you are ‘shy’ about learning about dating with other men.

Since it is just for you, the format of personal dating coaching varies considerably. Mostly, dating coaches will recommend a set approach and structure, but they are normally also flexible depending on your particular needs.

Important: If you are going to buy personal dating coaching make sure you know what you want to get out of the course. It is the more expensive option, so you need to make sure you are going to get your money’s worth.

Virtual Coaching (AKA phone, email and IM coaching)

If you are extremely busy, or you are ‘shy’ about meeting a dating coach or other students in person, or you have very specific needs that you think can be discussed quickly with a coach – virtual coaching can be for you.

You get coached over the phone, via instant messenger with the video option (e.g. Skype, MSN messenger, yahoo messenger) or by email. Mostly the dating coaching specifies how he coaches virtually, and often they bill this style of coaching by the hour.

This is a form of personal coaching, since you get the full attention of the dating coach. It is, however, a much cheaper option than the face to face personal coaching we discussed previously.

Men typically buy virtual coaching when they have some quick needs. They may have a current ‘dating situation’ that they want advice on. If you’ve seen the film ‘Hitch’ you’ll remember how Wil Smith talked his clients through a dating situation over the phone – the client would cut out of the date and go to the toilet to call his dating coach and ask for advice when needed. This can actually be true to reality. Some men want to do this, and most dating coaches will do this. This resembles ‘in-field’ coaching in its nature.

However, for the majority, the virtual coaching is scheduled in a time slot – and is more like a personal question and answer session on the current doubts and uncertainties the client has. Often clients will ask for virtual coaching as a follow up to a bootcamp or seminar. This allows them some relatively cheap support to help them apply what they learned in previous courses.

The Most Popular Dating Coaching Services?

Today the most popular of all the dating coaching formats is the dating bootcamp. According to the DatingSkillsReview database, 31% of the dating coaching programs on the market are dating bootcamps. Next comes virtual coaching. 23% of all dating coaching programs are based on phone and email consultation only.

The least used formats today are the dating mentoring program and the dating seminar.